The awe, the mystery of it

 

I am asked during this time of the pandemic that it must be difficult being alone, to which my reply naturally arises.  Alone?  This is happily a reflective time.  This is an extraordinary time that has proved for me to be a grace filled time, a freeing time.  I never planned it this way but this is how it has unfolded. 

I have experienced this as a time when you see others for who they are – the good, the bad and the ugly.  Definitely, this time has seen the rising up of humanity with people reaching out to each other, being kind and generous in ways not usually seen.  I have seen strangers who have lived in the same building for so long, now becoming friends as they stop and sit and chat.  I hear people asking who might be having problems at this time and how they may help.  So it goes on. 

This time has also served to show up our weaknesses and the limitations of humanity. In my sphere of influence, I see leaders who have shown themselves in the best of times to be simply lack lustre, who are now showing themselves in times of lockdown and crisis to be no leader of note at all.  What has struck me is how these ones lack respect for others, maybe even for themselves.  If this is so, I ask how can they be a leader?

Respect is a key word of this time, as is solidarity.  The small issues of life have become big as they raise the wider questions of social behavior.  Arriving late to mass is no longer just a personal happening but an issue of respect for others, as people need to allow time to follow guidelines and be seated in set places, then allowing all who gather to join in the time of worship.  Livestreaming of masses and now lack of space in churches due to social distancing raise the basic questions around community and gathering.  

Who is out there?

Who is coming now and who isn’t? 

How do we all blend in together? 

So authority is clearly shown as being based on respect and not on the exercise of control.  It is not about issuing orders for running mass in these times but about gaining trust and cooperation for allowing mass to occur together. 

As I peeked from the inside of a quiet cathedral at the Corpus Christi adoration outside, I was taken by the dramatic and external action of the moment.   I ask.  Does this action speak of the mystery and freedom of God or is it our presenting a God on tap who is safe and predictable for our own worship?  Fact is we don’t control God.  This virus reminds us who is in charge.   Thus we approach God with respect and happily give up any urge for control so as to be open to the change needed in our lives, world and church.  I wonder.  Are we becoming the mystics as predicted by Karl Rahner who boldly stated that the Christians of this century would be mystics or nothing at all?    

{from a piece written for elsewhere on  26^th June, 2020 and worth sharing now)